The web radio world is very competitive. What there is to offer is vast, much to the delight of the listener who, thanks to this mature medium, can find exactly what he or she wants according to his or her current hearing desires. For the broadcaster, whether seasoned or learning, the objective is to offer a unique, high-quality program and to make it known to bring together the widest possible audience. The mission is not as perilous as that because the audience’s potential is very large. However, you have to be creative and respect a few basic principles. Here is our advice.
Develop a unique concept to create a brand of its own
Above all, for your radio station to attract and retain many listeners, it needs a unique identity, values, and a concept that sets it apart from its competitors. Today, hundreds of thousands of web radios exist and exploit the slightest musical niche. To succeed, you must go beyond simple originality linked to a specific musical style and have your concept.
To achieve this, the means are numerous. There is the visual identity, of course, the logo and the graphic charter of the site (colors, typography), but also and above all the “claim” of the radio, which must summarize the concept in a few words. But all this would be nothing without the color of the antenna, the dressing, the few voice tracks etc… The whole must be coherent to express the concept.
An example of a concept? That of ABC Lounge Radio, a success story of the last 10 years. On the air, soft music to relax, a real original downtempo musical format mixing instrumental music and singers with soft voices, sometimes with very slightly jazzy accents. The concept is the following ” Sea, love and soft music “, the main image of the website, which is also very simple, is a luxurious swimming pool facing the sea, this pool by the edge of which one would listen to ABC Lounge Radio. Everything is simple, easy to understand, and coherent. The concept of the radio jumps to the eyes and ears very easily. Thus, we are well beyond a simple radio that broadcasts lounge music.
Define a long-term social media strategy
One question that every broadcaster works on about social networks is how to get the most out of them without spending too much time on them. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, Youtube, TikTok… The tools are numerous and the possibilities endless. But how to define efficient and reasonable social media strategy? Here are some elements of the answer:
– Choose your networks: Instagram/Facebook seems to be the winning duo. Facebook for its mainstream side, Instagram because it is the support of the moment, especially through stories. The big advantage is that you can link the two accounts and post on both networks at the same time. What to post on Facebook and Instagram? This deserves a complete file that we will soon propose to you on this blog. Of course, you have to prioritize the image and even more importantly the video, to generate virality. But once the fan base is built up, these two social networks allow you to be interactive with your listeners’ thanks to comments and messages. We will also have the opportunity to come back in more detail on how to manage this relationship with your listeners.
But without making it a priority, don’t neglect Twitter, because every brand needs to have an account on it. For example, you can use it to share the news that will be posted on your radio site/app, this allows you to exist on Twitter without wasting too much time.
Social networks will allow you to gain more notoriety than a pure audience. But notoriety always ends up connecting with an audience.
You should also know that there are dozens of tools to manage all your accounts on different social networks with a single interface. We will have the opportunity to come back to this.
Succeed with your radio site/app
No audience exists without an efficient and simple website and app to listen to your radio. Here are a few basics:
(for the site)
– don’t forget to buy the domain name corresponding to your radio quickly
– Make a simple site with a few news in coherence with your programming (post them at your own pace, but regularly).
– make the player of the radio appear in an obvious way on the site
– Set the radio player to pop up (to prevent it from shutting down while the user is browsing the site).
(for applications)
– You can develop the app yourself (but this has a cost or takes time) but you can also rely on existing templates that cost less. Several providers offer this service
– Prefer to start listening to the radio with a big player as soon as you open the app. The rest is an accessory
Devote time to referencing the feed and the site/application
We’re not going to give you a lesson in referencing here, the web is full of tips and tricks to better appear on Google and many of those who read this article are already seasoned professionals. But we will remind you that it is a must to improve the visibility of your radio station.
What about stream referencing? Shoutcast does it for you thanks to its numerous partners, directories, and platforms.
Work in partnership with content producers/artists
Your radio would be nothing without the content, music/talks that are broadcast on it. Creating as many links/partnerships as possible between the radio and artists/content producers will increase the radio’s notoriety (particularly via the social networks of its partner artists/publishers) but also allow you to closely follow their musical news to offer it exclusively to your listeners. Any exclusive content, with added value, will improve the image and credibility of your radio station.